<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>I Learned How To Love by Nepenthene</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27984459">I Learned How To Love</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nepenthene/pseuds/Nepenthene'>Nepenthene</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Supernatural</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angels Becoming Humans, Castiel Deals With Having Human Emotions (Supernatural), Character Study, Falling In Love, Feelings Realization, Introspection, M/M, Poetry, Righteous Man Dean Winchester</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 17:21:57</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>216</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27984459</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nepenthene/pseuds/Nepenthene</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>He witnessed creation, and fell in love with a tired man driving down a backroad.</i>
</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Castiel/Dean Winchester</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>36</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>I Learned How To Love</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>So did I write a poem about Cas having learned how to love from Dean? Yes. Did I write it this morning in roughly half an hour, running on a sad bowl of cereal and half a cup of coffee? Yes. Did I write it because of <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CIi7pf1HFvy/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link">this post,</a> which I saw while scrolling through Instagram and low-key crying about Destiel? Also yes. And y'all can thank my buddies FlyFree17, MagicLia16, and InkOfEmrys for telling me to post this, goddamnit.</p><p>(The summary comes from a tweet by @xylodemon, which is in that post I linked. PLEASE read it, and then come cry with me in the comments ;-;)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>I learned how to love</p><p>On car rides across the empty spaces</p><p>In the middle of this country;</p><p>In lonely diners with tired waitresses,</p><p>In dim bars with sticky floors.</p><p>In the cheap motel rooms</p><p>Where you lay your head</p><p>When exhaustion blurs your vision.</p><p> </p><p>I learned how to love</p><p>From you.</p><p>Humanity personified,</p><p>Blood-sweat-grit beaten down</p><p>By the weight of the world,</p><p>By what you’ve done and</p><p>By what you’ve failed to do—</p><p>And yet.</p><p>You are good, and kind, and caring</p><p>In spite of it,</p><p>Sheltering the wavering flame of </p><p>Your hope in the cradle of </p><p>Your strong, scarred hands.</p><p> </p><p>I didn’t even realize</p><p>What was happening</p><p>Until it was far too late</p><p>To extricate myself from</p><p>Your orbit,</p><p>To put a safe distance</p><p>Between us;</p><p>But then again,</p><p>Why would I want to?</p><p>You’re the best thing that’s ever</p><p>Crashed into my long,</p><p>Lonely life.</p><p>Why wouldn’t I try to</p><p>Keep you close?</p><p> </p><p>I learned how to love</p><p>In the liminal spaces of this place,</p><p>Because love is the rock in the stream</p><p>That makes everything else</p><p>Part around it,</p><p>Conform to its shape,</p><p>Obey its edicts.</p><p>It colours everything.</p><p>And I learned how to love <em>you</em></p><p>By standing firmly at your side.</p><p> </p><p>I’ll stay here for</p><p>As long as </p><p>You’ll let me.</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>